Benn there, done that: Canada defeats USA again

Matt Slocum/The Associated PressTeam Canada forward Benn Jamie (22) celebrates his goal against USA goaltender Jonathan Quick during the second period of their men’s hockey semifinal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, on Friday. Benn’s goal stood up as the winner in Canada’s 1-0 victory over the archrival Americans. Canada will next face Sweden for gold on Sunday morning — early morning, as in 4 a.m. PT — while the U.S. is left to play for bronze on Saturday against Finland, which fell 2-1 to Sweden in the other semi.

I like firewagon hockey as much as the next guy. After all, my interest in the sport was spawned by the high-flying Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s — back in my diaper days.

Yet, I can appreciate a good low-scoring game as well, which is what hockey fans around the world were treated to with Friday morning’s Olympic semifinal between Canada and the United States. As a former puck-stopper myself, I certainly enjoy an entertaining goaltender’s duel and this game showcased Carey Price and Jonathan Quick matching each other save-for-save throughout.

In the end, Jamie Benn’s redirection of Jay Bouwmeester’s shot-pass early in the second period proved to be the difference as Canada prevailed 1-0 and will now face Sweden for gold on Sunday morning. That’s a 4 a.m. PT puck-drop, so set your alarms accordingly . . . or crush a couple of Red Bulls and power through it. Then again, the adrenaline rush of watching your country play for gold should be enough to keep most of us awake, with or without sleep beforehand.

Larry Fisher

That Benn’s goal was the only offence in Friday’s contest didn’t diminish the fact that this was a great game played between two evenly matched teams. If not for Price and especially Quick, it could have been higher scoring as there were plenty of chances at both ends of the ice.

That said, I would say Canada’s defence was the bigger story. The Americans were scoring at will coming in, with 20 goals through four games to Canada’s 13 — against better competition no less. And they had to have been hungry for this rematch of the 2010 gold-medal game, wanting to avenge that 3-2 overtime loss with 12 players returning from Vancouver to Canada’s 11.

Phil Kessel, the leading goal-scorer and point-getter of these Games, had an early opportunity after blowing past Duncan Keith and then John Carlson got a clean look from the slot, but Price turned them aside and his teammates kept them at bay the rest of the way.

The Americans didn’t even get a sniff in the dying minutes, making for a somewhat anticlimactic finish as the clock counted down without much suspense — albeit much to the delight of Canadian fans.

Drew Doughty wasn’t as impactful, but Canada didn’t need another goal from its most dynamic defender on this day. Shea Weber was in beast mode yet again — nuff said on him. Bouwmeester got involved offensively with his well-placed assist, then settled back into a mostly defensive role alongside St. Louis Blues partner Alex Pietrangelo. Doughty’s partner, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, continued to earn his keep as a stay-at-home type, and even Keith bounced back from a mistake-prone first period to play an effective final 40 minutes. I’m not even sure if seventh defenceman Dan Hamhuis stepped on the ice? If he did, I didn’t notice him out there, but I guess that’s probably a good thing too.

Up front, Sidney Crosby had his best game of the tournament but still couldn’t find the scoresheet — or the back of the net, now goal-less in five Olympic games since scoring the Golden Goal to end the 2010 tournament. The line of Benn with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf was Canada’s most dangerous even before and after the lone goal, while Jonathan Toews and Matt Duchene were also quite noticeable in their efforts. Patrick Sharp, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash and Jeff Carter were up and down their wings, chipping in here and there as per usual.

Overall, Canada is looking pretty unstoppable heading into the gold-medal game against Sweden, which is missing injured forwards Henrik Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen, not to mention the glaring omission of defenceman Victor Hedman. Canada is also without two of its top young forwards in Steven Stamkos and John Tavares, but still has depth to spare at every position and should be able to use that to its advantage.

The odds will likely be stacked in Canada’s favour and deservedly so, but anything is possible in a one-game, winner-takes-all situation.

My prediction: Canada 4, Sweden 1 with an empty-net goal to clinch the gold and repeat as Olympic champions.

Without further ado, here is my mash-up of thoughts from the Canada-USA semifinal via my Twitter feed (LarryFisher_KDC):

8:52 a.m. = Good morning North America! Barely slept having stayed up to watch Canada win gold and silver in women’s skicross, but excited for big game.